A Safer Masonic on the Way

Wednesday evening some 130 local residents and other interested parties dropped in at the San Francisco Day School to learn about the construction phase of SFMTAs Masonic Avenue Streetscape Project. To quote SFMTA’s own release about the project:

With construction starting in June 2016, the Masonic Avenue Streetscape Project is an effort to improve safety for people walking, biking, taking transit and driving on Masonic Avenue between Geary Boulevard and Fell Street. It will bring a variety of improvements to the corridor including, wider sidewalks, a new median, new paving, landscaping, raised bikeways, better lighting and upgraded sewer infrastructure.

The meeting was primarily to let local residents know what to expect from the jack hammers and traffic delays they will experience from June through late 2017, when construction is scheduled to be completed.

Michael Helquist, an advocate with “Fix Masonic” who helped raise support for the changes over the years, was thrilled. “This took several years of going door to door to build support,” he said. “Safety is my biggest concern.”

From 2009 to 2014, there were 113 traffic collisions on Masonic Avenue between Fell Street and Geary Boulevard. This includes 14 pedestrian collisions and 24 bicycle collisions, including two fatalities.

That said, not everyone at the meeting was enamored with the project; the loss of around 140 parking spots was the overriding issue. Hazel Reitz has lived on Golden Gate, off Masonic, for the past 10 years. “It will be much prettier, but we don’t have parking,” she said. “We have nowhere to park now,” exclaimed Niul Hayes, a construction contractor who struggles to find a place to park his pickup truck. “This will mean chaos and mayhem.”

Still, the project is about safety, and most visitors understood that compromises have to be made.

Reitz, for example, thought it was worth giving up the parking if it would save lives. However, when asked if it would be worth sparing one cyclist a broken arm every ten years, she responded: “I’d have to think about it.” Others made the circular argument that cyclists don’t use Masonic, so therefore there’s no reason to add bike lanes. “Put it on Baker (or whatever other parallel street)!” was a refrain from the visitors.

Others, such as Alexis Jakob, complained that nobody notified her or any of the other residents of the project during the planning phases, which started in 2008. “This was a done deal with the SF Bike Coalition,” she said.

“I know the city sent notices to everyone. You can’t force people to read what comes in the mail,” said Helquist. “There’s always someone in San Francisco who will say we can’t live with that if we have to give up parking.”

The Masonic project’s bike lanes, meanwhile, will be raised two-inches above street level, but there’s no barrier to keep cars from intruding on them. “City planners know how to design streets that prevent people from intermingling in ways that are more likely to make them feel scared, angry and unsafe. Protected bike lanes are the answer,” said SFBC spokesman Chris Cassidy. The project calls for eliminating the aforementioned parking lane and includes wider sidewalks, so surely there’s adequate space for a buffer or barrier. They could even flip the bike lane with the treeline, to provide full protection. But the project doesn’t go that far. One SFMTA official said that would increase the $26 million cost of the project.

Delivery truck blocking a raised bike lane on Market. Is this a scene we’ll see repeated on Masonic in a few years? Photo: Roger Rudick

An SFMTA official at the meeting said they had not discussed extending the bike lanes into intersections. Note the upper left corner, the bike lane is between car lanes. Image: SFMTA.

Still, it will be a vast improvement both in the street and, perhaps, in civic attitudes. Nearly everyone was pleased at the additional trees and even Reitz backed off accepting broken bones to preserve parking. The additional street trees, bike lanes, and lane reductions will, hopefully, help reduce the number of collisions on this busy thoroughfare. The wider sidewalks, lighting and trees are a great improvement for pedestrians. SFMTA is also building boarding islands for buses that should reduce conflicts.

In the meantime, it might be an area to avoid for a while for all road users. Jackhammers and shovels start turning next month.

Wait, they can find 22′ for sidewalks and trees but only 5′ for a bikeway? That is pitiful, that space should be increased to at least 8′. If necessary, nix some of the trees.

SF4SF

The center median is a waste of money and space. It should be a painted median and used only for left turning vehicle queuing, emergency vehicle passage, and traffic to get around breakdowns etc.
Street space is valuable to all users (including cyclists). It should be used for efficient movement of all modes, not for “decoration and landscaping”. SFMTA should get out of the landscaping business and learn to design streets for the better safer smoother flow of TRANSPORTATION.

keenplanner

Thank you to Michael and Dale for the years of hard work it took to bring this plan to reality. It’s heart warming to read that we will be getting a safer, and more attractive Masonic that functions as a complete street, not just a traffic sewer. Now on to Oak and Fell…..

Flatlander

they didn’t “find” 22′ for the sidewalk – that’s how wide it has always been

njudah

Another project that has taken way too long to get completed. When you tell someone from Outside SF about how long things take, mostly due to appeasing people and having endless meetings, they are baffled.

Then you see quotes like this

“Others, such as Alexis Jakob, complained that nobody notified her or any of the other residents of the project during the planning phases, which started in 2008. ”
The fact is you could have put up billboard with loudspeakers 24/7 about the project and someone will always say “no one was told” and allege some “secret meetings” led to the changes, regardless of what actually happened. This will continue as the SFMTA appeases the few and the loud, vs. applying good planning and outreach to their projects, with a focus on getting things done.

Ah, okay. In that case, if they aren’t really moving the curbs, then this is about the best design possible. The only other strategy would be to pursue speed reductions. Given the narrow lanes, they can probably do a speed survey after a few weeks and lower the speed limit. Also, construction might be a great time to add raised tables to keep speeds down along the corridor.

murphstahoe

Head on collisions are not very efficient.

RichLL

The purpose of the Masonic plan is not to reduce speeds or throughput. In fact the compromise plan was agreed over strong objections that it would lead to delays and congestion only after SFMTA gave assurances that there would be just a minimal impact on traffic throughput and travel times, and then only at peak times.

We will see if their promise plays out. But there is certainly no implied mandate to slow speeds below the 25 mph limit that is already in place. And that is a low limit for a 4-6 lane highway with phased lights that carries over 30,000 vehicles a day. In fact it’s the same limit as on narrow streets like Hayes that has steep hills, stop signs and far less traffic.

The Masonic plan adds safety by segregating road users and not by crippling traffic throughput, or so we are told anyway.

RichLL

Moreover, the center median provides shelter for crossing pedestrians. And, at 5 feet wide, is not wide enough for another traffic or turning lane anyway.

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